DID YOU READ

In his new film, veteran actor Frank Langella plays an aging jewel thief whose life is being stolen away from him by the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. When his son buys him a robot butler, his annoyance with his new housemate gradually softens as he learns that the robot could make the perfect parter in crime.

After garnering an award — and quite a bit of positive buzz — at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “Robot & Frank” has been building momentum on the festival circuit for its compelling story, its young director Jake Schreier, and its stellar cast, which includes Langella in the lead role, along with Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, and Liv Tyler.

IFC spoke with Langella about the film, which is set in a future not too far from the present day, and showcases the Oscar nominee’s formidable talents as a leading man.

“I couldn’t believe a script about an older man with Alzeihemers dealing with a robot would come my way,” said Langella of what first attracted him to the film. “It was a script that was minus the usual stuffy CEO, head of a corporation, or ‘college professor who doesn’t like the young man dating his daughter’ kind of stuff.”

And even though the robot does a fair share of scene-stealing in the film, it’s Langella’s portrayal of Frank, the former thief, that makes “Robot & Frank” so compelling. It’s a performance made even more impressive by the knowledge that Langella often found himself acting opposite, well… nothing at all.

“[The robot] was in my imagination all the time, so he changed,” he explained, indicating that there were many scenes in which the robot was added well after the scene was shot. “There were different voices at different times, and sometimes there was nobody there — he was sort of mocked-up because we didn’t have any room or it was too hot to put a person inside him. I fashioned a robot in my mind so I could really play opposite whatever sound I heard.”

In the film, Peter Sarsgaard provides the voice of the robot, who helps get Frank’s life back on track and help him find something he can get excited about — in this case, planning a heist with his new mechanical partner. While the robot is a reluctant participant at first, his prime directive to get Frank up and active again supersedes any qualms about the criminal nature of their activities.

But rather than slipping into the conventions of your standard buddy movie, the film takes some unique turns that, in the end, were some of the elements that Langella found most appealing about it.

“It didn’t [feel like a buddy movie],” he explained. “It felt like a movie about alienation and loneliness and sadness, and human beings trying to find each other.”

And possibly most interesting element of all is the darker, underlying theme in “Robot & Frank,” which connects Frank’s return to a more active, cognizant life with a return to his criminal habits.

“No one’s ever mentioned that, but I think it’s true,” he told IFC when asked about that unusual evolution for a character. “In the beginning of the film, he’s disheveled and disoriented and dirty, and there’s food all over his pajamas, and he’s living in a dirty house. And then the robot comes along and reenergizes him, and gives him some validation, gives him some reason. The fact that he decides as he’s coming back to himself to pick up his old habit — which is to be a second-story man — is what I think is so original about the film.

“It doesn’t turn into a sentimental buddy movie at all,” he added. “The guy doesn’t change. He says. ‘Oh, I can teach this robot to steal!'”

Your Portlandia Personality Test

Carrie and Fred understand that although we have so much in common, we’re each so beautifully unique and different. To help us navigate those differences, Portlandia has found an easy and honest way to embrace our special selves in the form of a progressive new traffic system: a specific lane for every kind of driver. It’s all in honor of the show’s 8th and final season, and it’s all presented by Subaru.

Ready to find out who you really are? Match your personality to a lane and hop on the expressway to self-understanding.

Lane 10: Trucks Piled With Junk

Your junk is falling out of your trunk. Shake a tail light, people — this lane is for you.

Lane 33: Twins

You’re like a Gemini, but waaaay more pedestrian. Maybe you and a friend just wear the same outfits a lot. Who cares, it’s just twinning enough to make you feel special.

Lane 27: Broken Windows

Bad luck follows you around and everyone knows it. Your proverbial seat is always damp from proverbial rain. Is this the universe telling you to swallow your pride? Yes.

Lane 69: Filthy Cars

You’re all about convenience. Getting your car washed while you drive is a no-brainer.

Lane 43: Newly Divorced Singles

It’s been a while since you’ve driven alone, and you don’t know the rules of the road anymore. What’s too fast? What’s too slow? Are you sending the right signals? Don’t worry, the breakdown lane is nearby if you need it.

Still can’t find a lane to match your personality? Check out all the videos here. And see the final season of Portlandia this spring on IFC.

Last-Minute Holiday Gift Guide

It’s the final countdown to Christmas and thanks to IFC’s movie marathon all Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, you can revel in classic ’80s films AND find inspiration for your last-minute gifts. Here are our recommendations, if you need a head start:

Musical Instrument

Great analog entertainment substitute when you refuse to give your kid the Nintendo Switch they’ve been drooling over.

Breakfast In Bed

Any significant other or child would appreciate these Uncle Buck-approved flapjacks. Just make sure you’re not stuck on clean up duty.

Cocktail Supplies

You’ll need them to get through the holidays.

Dance Lessons

So you can learn to shake-shake-shake (unless you know ghosts willing to lend a hand).

Comfy Clothes

With all the holiday meals, there may be some…embigenning.

Get even more great inspiration all Christmas Eve and Day on IFC, and remember…

Celebrating Portlandia One Sketch at a Time

Most people measure time in minutes, hours, days, years…At IFC, we measure it in sketches. And nothing takes us way (waaaaaay) back like Portlandia sketches. Yes, there’s a Portlandia milepost from every season that changed the way we think, behave, and pickle things. In honor of Portlandia’s 8th and final season, Subaru presents a few of our favorites.